Kenvue Inc. (NYSE:KVUE – Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 34,600,000 shares, a growth of 26.0% from the March 15th total of 27,450,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 16,620,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.1 days. Approximately 2.2% of the company’s stock are short sold.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Kenvue in a research note on Thursday. They set an “underperform” rating and a $18.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Kenvue in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $20.00 price objective for the company. William Blair initiated coverage on shares of Kenvue in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Kenvue from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Kenvue from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kenvue currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $24.85.
Kenvue Price Performance
Shares of KVUE remained flat at $19.13 during mid-day trading on Monday. 13,299,186 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,824,398. Kenvue has a 52 week low of $17.82 and a 52 week high of $27.80. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $19.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $20.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.
Kenvue (NYSE:KVUE – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.03. Kenvue had a net margin of 9.87% and a return on equity of 15.62%. The company had revenue of $3.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.78 billion. The firm’s revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Kenvue will post 1.17 earnings per share for the current year.
Kenvue Announces Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 14th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 13th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.18%.
Institutional Trading of Kenvue
Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Citigroup Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Kenvue during the second quarter worth $57,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Kenvue in the 2nd quarter worth about $144,000. Northern Trust Corp bought a new stake in shares of Kenvue during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,244,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Kenvue during the second quarter worth approximately $73,000. Finally, BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Kenvue in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $164,895,000. 97.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Kenvue Company Profile
Kenvue Inc operates as a consumer health company worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Self Care, Skin Health and Beauty, and Essential Health. The Self Care segment offers cough, cold and allergy, pain care, digestive health, smoking cessation, eye care, and other products under the Tylenol, Motrin, Benadryl, Nicorette, Zarbee’s, ORSLTM, Rhinocort, Calpol, and Zyrtec brands.